


i hold on to this pride (these days it's all i have)

by jesse (accio_belle)



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, M/M, fantasy toto, i guess??, i wrote this at 2am in a depressed rage, kravitz is there for emotional support, no beta i die by my own sword, taako has a very bad day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-21
Updated: 2020-03-21
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:47:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,544
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23248726
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/accio_belle/pseuds/jesse
Summary: “On a scale of Fantasy The Killers to Fantasy Justin Bieber, how bad is he feeling?” Kravitz asks, in lieu of greeting.“I’d say about a Fantasy Toto,” Lup replies. “He’s played ‘Africa’ twice now and I think he’s headed towards a third go-around.”
Relationships: Kravitz/Taako (The Adventure Zone)
Comments: 13
Kudos: 69





	i hold on to this pride (these days it's all i have)

**Author's Note:**

> welcome one and all to my first published fan content since TWO THOUSAND AND SEVENTEEN WHAT THE FUCK
> 
> cannot believe i'm almost 20 and sitting here about to throw this garbage at the world, i hope you enjoy it

Taako’s not answering his phone.

_This isn’t unusual,_ Kravitz thinks. Sometimes the elf forgets to switch it off Do Not Disturb, or he’s left it in another room, or he’s accidentally let it die during class again even though Kravitz reminds him time and time again to make sure his phone is charged before he leaves the apartment.

Really, it’s not that unusual.

What _is_ unusual, though, is getting several texts from Lup in quick succession. About Taako. And whether or not he’s been seen today.

**lööps 🔥**

_online_

hey krav, any word from taako?

Kravitz frowns, typing a response.

**reapz mcgee ☠️**

_online_

We spoke before he left for class, but I haven’t heard a thing since then. He should be on the bus home by now.

Is everything okay? He hasn’t been answering his phone.

**lööps 🔥**

_online_

that’s the thing. he hasn’t been answering me either

and taako always answers me

Kravitz’s heart beats double-time with worry. Something must be _really_ wrong for Taako to just ghost both his boyfriend and sister with zero explanation.

His phone buzzes again. Another message from Lup. And then another. And another.

**lööps 🔥**

_online_

oh hold on he just got home

holy shit

krav you gotta get over here he’s really really upset i don’t know what’s wrong

he ran right past me up the stairs, his face was all screwy like he either wanted to cry, commit several murders, or really had to shit

gonna go out on a limb and say it’s not number three

he just slammed his door

i think he’s playing fantasy kenny loggins now???

**reapz mcgee ☠️**

_online_

I’m On my way!

on my way** Cursed autocorrect.

**lööps 🔥**

_online_

haha nice going grandpa

As quickly as he can, Kravitz packs his laptop and notebook into his bag. He signs out of the study zone he’d been working in and heads out of the library. The university’s campus is fairly large, but it’s thankfully only a fifteen-minute bus ride from the apartment Kravitz shares with Taako, his sister, and Barry.

Kravitz boards the 45 and taps his bus card to the terminal. It lights up green, and Kravitz takes a seat at the rear of the bus. He checks his phone every few minutes, sending another message to Taako as the bus pulls away from the university.

**reapz mcgee ☠️**

_online_

I’m on my way home, love. I'll be there as soon as I can. I hope you’re alright. <3

He waits. No answer.

Kravitz sighs, tapping his finger against the side of his phone. Taako’s behaviour was worrisome before, but now that he knows something is wrong, it’s become even more so. Kravitz knows Taako isn’t the type to let things get to him easily. Insults typically roll off the elf’s back like water off a duck. For something to have bothered him this much, it has to be something very serious indeed.

The bus rolls to a stop at the corner in front of the apartment building, the doors opening to let a couple passengers on. Kravitz exits and hurries through the front door, past the broken elevator, up several flights of stairs, nearly drops his key twice trying to get it into the lock, and finally into the apartment.

Lup is sitting in her usual spot on top of the dining room table, hunched over her laptop. She looks up as Kravitz enters and her expression softens.

“On a scale of Fantasy The Killers to Fantasy Justin Bieber, how bad is he feeling?” he asks, in lieu of greeting.

“I’d say about a Fantasy Toto,” Lup replies. “He’s played ‘Africa’ twice now and I think he’s headed towards a third go-around.”

Kravitz frowns, shedding his coat and hanging it by the door. “Has he said anything?”

“Not a word. Every time I try, he turns the music up louder. Thank Istus we just soundproofed the apartment, or we’d be getting a lot of complaints.”

“Have you tried-”

Lup ticks her fingers off one by one. “I’ve played the Magnus Hug card, the Here’s Your Favorite Chocolate card, the I’m Your Beloved Twin Sister And I’m Here To Affection card, the I’ll Make Barry Speak Gross Science To You card, the Merle Dad-Talk card, and the I’ll Buy You Fantasy Starbucks If You’ll Just Tell Me What’s Wrong card. Nothing’s worked.”

Kravitz sighs, walking past her towards the stairs. “I’ll see what I can do.”

“Go work your spooky boyfriend magic, Ghost Rider.”

Kravitz climbs the stairs, the sounds of Fantasy Rush’s “Madrigal” growing louder as he approaches the room he shares with his boyfriend. He stops outside a door that’s been completely Bedazzled with an image of Taako’s face and knocks.

“Taako?” He almost has to shout to be heard over the music. “It’s Kravitz. Please open up?”

No answer, but at least the music doesn’t get louder.

“Taako, please. Lup and I are worried. You haven’t said a word since this morning, and Lup says you looked upset when you got home. Did something happen?”

Still no answer. Kravitz sighs again, rubbing his forehead.

“...You’re not going to make me sing along, are you?”

He waits for an answer he’s not sure he’ll get. Just before he opens his mouth to join in on the chorus that’s completely out of his range, the bedroom door slowly swings open.

The room is pretty much a rave. The overhead lights are off and shades are drawn, leaving only a sliver of late afternoon light to peek out from the edges. The LED strip lights Taako and Kravitz had strung around the room during Taako’s Fantasy TikTok phase are flashing in tune with the deafening music. Kravitz crosses over to the music player and turns it down about twenty notches.

“Taako, love?”

The pile of blankets atop their bed doesn’t move. Kravitz can see Taako’s messy braid poking out from the bottom of the pile. His beloved wizard’s hat lies abandoned on the floor beside the bed, another sign that Taako is well and truly not alright. Kravitz picks it up and dusts it off, hanging it on a hook by the closet door.

He sits on the edge of the bed, gazing down at the pile of blankets. As the song nears its end, a hand emerges from the pile and points a small remote at the music player. Fantasy Toto’s “Africa” begins to play, and the hand withdraws.

Kravitz can almost picture the look on Lup’s face.

He leans in close to where he approximates Taako’s head to be. “Do you want to talk about whatever is bothering you, love?”

A long pause, then a muffled “nuh-uh”.

“Do you want to come out?”

Another muffled “nuh-uh”.

“Do you want me to lay on top of you and crush you with my weight until you become one with death?”

Quiet chuckling. The blankets and braid shift in what Kravitz assumes to be Taako nodding his head.

Kravitz kicks off his boots and drapes his upper half on the blankets. He feels Taako squirm into a more comfortable position beneath him. The two lie in silence until the song ends, and then through a handful of other songs. Kravitz finds himself drifting off when the blankets shift again and Taako’s face is revealed.

The elf’s eyes are red and a little puffy. His hair is unkempt, blond strands escaping the braid and curling around his face. More than anything, he looks really tired.

Kravitz smiles at his boyfriend, making sure to not push the situation any further. He knows Taako likes to start conversations on his own, and if Kravitz jumps the gun, he’ll feel pressured and retreat.

Just as expected, Taako sighs theatrically. “My dude? Today fucking _sucked_.”

Kravitz waits for him to continue.

“So, like, I get to class, and some dick is in my usual seat. No biggie, cha’boy can sit somewhere else, but then I remember that we had to give the prof some data or whatever on our research paper, which I of course had forgotten here. So I had to tell him, in front of the _entire_ class, that Taako is a forgetful dumbass. He chews me out after class for being unprepared and ends up making me late for my next class. And of course, this professor has some bullshit zero tolerance policy for lateness. So I had to walk in late, knowing I’m gonna get dunked on again, but that’s not all. Monday means pop quiz! And I forgot my textbook at Magnus’, so I hadn’t studied or anything, so I _knew_ this wasn’t gonna end well for ol’ Taako-”

As Taako speaks, Kravitz reaches over and runs his thumb over Taako’s cheek. The elf automatically leans into his touch, not pausing his story. The sight makes Kravitz smile.

“-and on top of all of that, the cafeteria was out of 12-grain bagels! What the fuck was I supposed to do, get a plain one? Or, Istus forbid, a cinnamon raisin? Cha’boy has _standards_ , Krav. Standards!”

“Standards, love.”

Later, when Lup comes upstairs, the two of them will comfort Taako together. But for now, the elf and reaper lie quietly in each other’s company, and listen to music. Just them. Just existing together.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you twitter user meg for helping me with the title, taylor swift /always/ works  
> it was in my docs as "taako said depression rights" and the first thing i wrote was "think of a title later just barf words onto a page" which just goes to show how prepared i am to post this
> 
> speaking of twitter mine is [here](https://twitter.com/accio_belle).  
> i do absolutely nothing but shitpost and yell about how much i love the bee hive


End file.
